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Bills BILLS BEFORE THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT
Primary
Medical Services (Scotland) Bill Summaries of Bills passed by the Scottish Parliament in the First Session are available from the Scottish Parliament website.
Sexual
Offences Bill [Government
Bill] The government is to get tough on sex offenders but is set to repeal out-dated laws governing adult consensual sex. The government's Sexual Offences Bill will repeal many laws from the Victorian era, but will also propose tough new laws on rapists and paedophiles. The bill will sweep away legislation governing gay sex - and will scrap laws which make it illegal for consenting homosexuals to engage in group sex. The law of gross indecency, which applied to gay men engaging in sex in a "public" place such as a hotel room, will be removed. But a new law will be introduced to prevent straight and gay couples indulging in sex acts in public lavatories and parks. Laws which prevent heterosexual couples engaging in anal sex are also expected to be swept away. The legislation is also expected to redefine consent in rape cases if the victim was drunk or high on drugs. The move could enshrine a "drunk means no" policy in legislation and result in a huge rise in the number of date rape cases coming before the courts. Patients'
Protection Bill [House
of Lords] The legislation would make it "unlawful for any person responsible for the care of a patient to withdraw or withhold sustenance from the patient if his purpose in doing so is to hasten or otherwise cause the death of the patient." The Conservative peer hopes the Bill will reverse the Tony Bland judgement in which law lords gave permission for doctors to withdraw food from a patient in a vegetative state. Patient
(Assisted Dying) Bill
[House of Lords] In the wake of recent high profile euthanasia cases involving Diane Pretty and Reginald Crew, this back bench Lords bill sets out a framework allowing terminally ill adults to request medical assistance to die. |
